Yassa African Restaurant in Chicago - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Always love the Fataya & drinks. I always find a vegetarian or seafood dish I enjoy. And even get to practice a little French.

The great: service is excellent, they are courteous, attentive and just nice. The not so good: there are literally 3 pieces of meat in the lamb curry. They were bony spare ribs left over from lamb chops and tough to chew. Would not recommend it to any true food lovers… Also they charge you “ cash adjustment fee”, ie credit card fee…

I love the food with a nice glass of ginger juice.

Everything we tried was delicious. However, the Thiou curry with lamb is so F’n good! You have to try it. It paired well with fufu , plantains and djolof. The servers were nice and the restaurant was clean and welcoming. The atmosphere is homey.

I catered a small lunch with them. They replied to email, were communicative over the phone, helped me pick the best selection, it was coast effective. delivered on time. Everyone loved the food!

The whole snapper is fantastic and the onions on it pair well with the jolof rice!

My chicken was tuff, it’s pricey and the portions are small. The rice was a little dry, probably old. I’ll skip this place.

Today was my first time having my own cultural food. I’m vegan so I ordered the veggie plate fufu, rice, cabbage couscous with the sorrel drink. Didn’t bring my couscous or drink customer service is a must, investments towards the restaurant should be done, bad location there are no parking

The food was deeply flavored and very well cooked. The fried fish was tender and flaky and the seasoned Yassa on top was like nothing I’ve ever tasted. The Fataya were filled with salmon and warm spices and served with a spicy pepper sauce for dipping. Service was attentive and made sure we had everything we needed.

Best African Food in Chicago. The chicken is so delicious and seasoning is sooo good. The rice is cooked perfect. The service was amazing…

One of the greatest restaurants of all time. My favorite main dish is Maffe. Amazing plantains as side/appetizer. Vermicelli, cabbage, Aloco, fufu all great options for sides. Every drink is delicious and refreshing - my favorite is Bissap. I no longer live in Chicago, but this place is one of the things I miss the most.

Very nice place with great customer service and good presentation But…. the food doesn’t taste like an authentic Senegalese food. Please keep food tast traditional please.

The food here is top notch! I absolutely loved it! The lamb and chicken and fish were impeccable! Will definitely be coming back!

Grilled fish was great but the jollof rice was too dry, they should use jasmine or broken rice.

I really appreciate the food Very delicious, Am just passing through Chicago for a party, I brought some friends who were hungry. And I decided to ordered some braised fish with baobab juice. I really enjoyed and my friend too

First Nigerian restaurant I actually like! Licking my fingers from the flavors . The meat was a bit tough but I slow cooked It at home . I’ll be back here for sure

We ordered Yassa lamb, Maffe and Dibi chicken, all of them with Djolof rice. Everything was very delicious! The ginger drink is also very good with a strong ginger flavor. The portions are also very generous!

My grandson wanted to try this place after his 8th grade graduation. The Yassa chicken with jollof rice and cabbage, were all delicious! Also, the honey dew drink was great! The staff was nice.

Amazing food. Wonderful people. Large portions. We had the yassa fish and the yassa chicken. Both were outstanding. Homemade hot sauce is excellent.

Big Foodie visiting from New Orleans. This was the best food I’ve had anywhere in a very long time. Great food experience and highlight of my trip to your city.

Five stars is not enough. This place is top notch.

Very good good. And the service was amazing

The food was delicious! Highly recommended!

If their is anyone out there whom encountered a red snapper that looks like this please let me know. I have been eating at Yassa since off of 79th st. However at my age eating red snapper all my childhood now middle age life all of a sudden I do not know what a red snapper is. Well it's not the picture that I attached. I guess I waited in my life for these folks to come here to tell me what a red snapper is. Besides those folks being rude at Yassas they even showed me a raw piece of fish that was pale pink in color and told me that this was the red snapper they prepared for me. The taste was horrible. When I realized I was eating garbage I had gotten sick to my stomach. Folks beware of what goes in your mouth nowadays it can make you 😫 sick.

The food was soooo good!! I got saka & jollof rice. It was very good!!! They made the saka fresh, the jollof was tasty as well. the saka portion size could feed two! If you have peanut allergy let them know! Some of their dishes have nuts in them.

Thank you Yassa! The Yassa snapper, maffa, and fufu were incredible. I’ll be back for sure.

Yassa lamb stew and fufu was 🔥🔥🔥 only critique is food was very pricey and I didn’t get a lot of lamb but , overall the food was delicious!

Yasser is great casual dining experience. Excellent food, prepared righteously.

Delicious, everything homemade from scratch, fresh, great unique flavors and excellent drink selection.

Yassa is so delicious! I've been here multiple times. Everything I've eaten is packed with flavor. It's real and yummy African food.

A hole-in-a-wall restaurant worth going to. The sauce graine with jolof rice was yummy. Although the food took a while to come out, but it was a good experience overall.

This food was so good and Scrumptious the food was so African it pulled out my African roots 😂 you should definitely eat here new favorite food ❤️❤️❤️❤️

No photos of the food. I tend to always enjoy the environment. Nonetheless this was my first time visit to an African restaurant as I look to explore different foods. The hospitality was great! We were greeted right away and since the place wasn't packed, we sat wherever was open. Food was good. I had lamb and shrimp with fufu. Overall the experience was good. I would go back just for the service.

Great food, good customer service. Thanks for sharing your culinary traditions and helping me try new things! Honeydew pineapple juice was good but sweet. Really liked the brouchette chicken and thiou lamb/ chicken.

The food was amazing, can't wait to go back!

We had a really wonderful time at this restaurant. The owner and staff were just wonderful to visit with. The food is delicious, and we were there when they broke fast for ramadan, and it was such a wonderful celebration to be near. Must come back!

Absolutely AMAZING. I live 4 hours away and I drive to Chicago sometimes JUST for their food!!

This food is excellent and authentic. The taste is 5 star excellent indeed. Some of the best I’ve ever tasted. The food came out in a timely manner the service was excellent. Wonderful experience. I’ll be back.

This place is fantastic. You definitely have to wait a bit for the food so don’t expect a quick in and out. But the wait is well worth it. The food is really really good and you can taste the love behind the cooking. Got the Chicken and Lamb dinner and wife got the lamb stew with fufu. Everything was sensationally spiced and cooked fresh. Highly recommend.

Evvvvvvveerrryytimmeeeeeeeee I have. A. Order it’s NEVER ready…. I don’t understand why it’s never ready it’s so time consuming

Great music and even better food! Fataya is fresh and delicious. Yassa chicken is a must try!

I just ate here today with my brother and mom and I absolutely loved it. My brother used to live nearby and he and his wife would get takeout often. He wanted me to try it and he was right, the food was excellent! The folks working there were so dang friendly. The artwork all over the restaurant (including in the bathrooms) was beautiful. I highly recommend the food and also highly recommend eating within the restaurant because the music, people, art, and atmosphere were all so nice and welcoming. The only thing I'm not really sure about is the parking. We found a spot about half a block away, but overall parking looks like it might be a challenge. I didn't ask about a parking lot, but I also didn't really see one.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner and had an incredible experience. The staff were really sweet. The food was AMAZING! Super flavorful! I had the whole tilapia and jollof rice and my husband had the lamb with plantains! One of the best selections we had while visiting Chicago! We aren’t locals, however if we were this would be our go to spot!

If you dine in, you get to check out the art & music videos from there .. You'll see!!!

10 10 10 OUT OF 10!!!!! I have only ordered takeout but yall this place has me in a CHOKEHOLD. The dibi chicken…. I— 😭 it’s so good. It’s TOO good. The Senegalese jollof takes for me. So rich and complex in flavor. I also like the sorrel. I’m not gonna lie it’s a little thick for me so I add some water but still 10 out of 10. I recently tried the baobab juice and it was divineeee. Very much like a dessert drink to me, so creamy but also tart and fruit with a flavor almost subtly reminiscent of bubble gum?? Maybe that’s just me. 10 out of 10. Highly highly highly recommend for Malian and Senegalese food. 🇲🇱 🇸🇳

Nice quiet atmosphere, flavor filled foods and patient employees

The Yassa chicken and rice is delicious!!! Perfectly seasoned and the onions gives it a sweet and savory flavor!

Nice restaurant. Friendly staff. The food was absolutely delicious. We had the Nem and Fataya. I legit had to order some more to go. My first time trying fufu and I was delightfully impressed. I had it the the curry with chicken the flavor was all the way there not over or under seasoned it was just right. For my entree I had the yassa chicken with lamb and jollof rice. It was hot, fresh and delicious. For beverages I had the Bissap and my boyfriend had the ginger. Hands down will be returning. I enjoyed my dining experience very much.

My first time eating here. I had the fish, jollof rice and plantains it was delicious! The only problem was that there was weave hair in my food! Yuck 🤮 The first one I was like omg! But then there was another hair just hanging on the edge of my fish! Please whoever the chef is please wear a hair net or remove your wig while in the kitchen cooking!

Yesterday I took my son to Yassa to have lunch. My ex husband is Senegalese so I’ve eaten Senegalese food before even cooked it! The food and service here is amazing! While parking can be a challenge it was totally worth it! I ordered grilled fish, my son’s favorite is mafe’ ( lamb stew with peanut butter sauce ) soooo good and fataya for an appetizer ( salmon stuffed style empanadas with a sauce on the side)! U have to get the pungent ginger drink or bisssop ( hibiscus) . Definitely going back and the owner was amazing & pleasant too! The esthetic makes u feel as if u are in Senegal 🇸🇳 eating in a cafe .

Top 3 best West African restaurants on the south side. I love everything on their menu.

NOT SAFE ‼️ The events of our evening on 01/19/24 1)Two of us walked in and sat ourselves. We asked for four drinks as we & waited for the other two to come & 4drinks were brought almost immediately. 2)We continued to order four meals as we continued to wait. Also ordered four appetizers. We discussed how the lady taking the order had a great memory to remember all we had requested without writing any of it down. 3)Shorty after my husband & aunt walk in we get three appetizers instead of the four we had asked, the fourth was brought within a few minutes of reminding the waiter. 4) After about 20min, only three meals were served, we quietly waited for my husband’s meal, I would say about 10min and asked if the meal was coming and realized it was forgotten. He did get it about 20 minus later. 5) lamb, rice over seasoned. If you’ve ever had chebu-jen, do not order it here, trust me just don’t! I had plantain fufu - and greens with meat in it and that was pretty good. 6) The only problem with the greens was I asked that I wanted mine without shrimp and believed this request was honored. 7) I bring the greens home, my niece takes one bite and we end up in the emergency room for the night. 8)The greens that were not supposed to have shrimp definitely had a pretty little shrimp sitting covered in greens. I get that everyone has an off day and it usually takes me a couple visits to determine good service. I however feel there was pure carelessness. Especially when the young lady who waited in us was on her phone every chance she got. WOULD NOT DINE HERE AGAIN

Stopped by on a Wednesday afternoon and was not disappointed at all! The chicken was so delicious and really tender. First time having jollof rice and wow! Great service, too. I will be back

Chicken curry is a must!!! Warning it does stain fingers .

Got the yassa lamb with attieke and alloco and it was really good! The spicy sauce on the side brings it to another level. I am giving 4 stars because I wish it came with some moyo sauce. My friend got the sauce graine with fufu and it was good. Portions are also pretty bit.

I saw a review on tik tok about how good the food was here. And it wasn’t good at all. It was overly seasoned, the lamb was burnt, and cooked to hard. Lamb is a soft meat, and that wasn’t at all. When we walked in no one greeted us. The one young lady looked dead at us and put her face back in her phone. The guy behind the counter looked at us and looked back at the screen. We proceeded to tell him we’re here to dine in. He gave us menus and walked away. The young lady that was on her phone, grabbed some water out of the cooler. She sat it on the table, and walked away. She didn’t say anything. My sister and I was sitting for a while, and no one came to take our order. I waved the guy to the table. He took our order, he didn’t ask if we wanted anything to drink. When the food finally came out. He sat it on the table and walked away. Not a person in there came to ask was everything okay. This place lacks any customer service skills. The whole of the place was not good, from the entrance to the food. Please do better.

The House Lamb Chops were very well seasoned and the jolof rice was exceptional. The meat was a little tough for me. But the plantain was also very good and made all of the flavors come together. Both of the juices were so delish! We had the Ginger drink and the Zobo-ish tea (I forgot the name, but if you know zobo team, you know the flavors). Overall, the food is worth the experience, but come expecting something different than the American norm. Saluting the Senegalese customs and culinary skills. We are happy you are here! Thanks!

We ordered jollof rice with fish and Yassa lamb. We enjoyed the proteins, but overall the dishes were too greasy and left us with heartburn. Staff was friendly but it took a while for our food to be served. If you have school age children, I'd warn that music videos they play are not appropriate.

Great food and great service!! We always enjoy the food!

Overall Thoughts: A homey, spacious restaurant with super friendly service, beautiful decorations, and a solid selection of flavorful, traditional dishes. The prices are reasonable for the large and filling portions. This is a family-owned restaurant I’d always be happy to eat at and support! Food I tried: - Yassa Fish with Djolof Rice (4.5/5): The fish was great-- quite boney and salty, but very tender and flavorful. The soft sautéed veggies on top added a nice kick of flavor and texture. The djolof was wonderfully crispy and wasn’t spicy but very well-seasoned otherwise. - Yassa Chicken with Fried Plantains (4/5): The chicken was pretty crispy and juicy, and again, the soft sautéed veggies on top added a nice contrasting flavor and texture. The plantains were flavorful and well-fried. - Maffe with Plantain Fufu (4.5/5): The maffe was good and heavy, with distinct yet somewhat subtle peanut butter flavors. The lamb was very tender, but I wish it came with more— there were only a couple pieces in there. The fufu had a soft, fluffy texture, and was a good pair to this dish for scooping up the maffe sauce. The fufu itself didn’t have much flavor, but it soaked up the flavor of other things pretty well. — Price (relative to peers): 4.2/5 Food: 4.4/5 Ambience: 4.8/5 Service: 5/5 Overall Value: 4.5/5

I knew the restaurant before Covid. Was in town today decided to go eat there before heading to the airport. Got there with an empty stomach server first take about 15min to take my order than I place the order 30min later (45 counting the 15 I’ve waited ) a lady comes and tell me they run out of that specific food when I called before coming and I saw they we’re serving bunch of pick up order ahead of me. I was like okay let me get the one you have wait another 15 minutes no food is coming I then took my bag and pay for my drink and left. But that was a way too easy so I went back to talk to them to tell them I’m disappointed, they couldn’t even figure out what happened we here was my food or nothing. I wasn’t there to have free food so I don’t know why they were treating me like I was about to eat for free. Really disappointed.

Wonderful authentic food, all the dishes I've had have been excellent. Portion sizes are great. Staff are helpful and friendly. I highly recommend if you want to try something a little different and highly delicious.

This was a excellent experience for myself and my family especially considering it was a day after Thanksgiving

It's one of my favorite African Cuisine restaurants in da Chi! The Senegalese food was flavorful. I ordered the djollaf rice, dibi chicken and dibi lamb...tender, with a hint of spices and herbs. I also always order the ginger drink... a perfect combination of spices and sweetness. The waiters are always welcoming, so I don't mind traveling from the South Suburbs for their special food because it's worth it!

The food was delicious! The service was great!

Delicious well-prepared seafood and other dishes! The staff are very kind and helpful.

I've tried it several times through Relish and wanted to love it but the food quality is subpar. It's greasy. The owner is a lovely guy! So, kind. I see alot of promise here. However, I can't give a good review today.

Omg the flavors and meat here are awesome. Loved the lamb and chicken, such good grilled meats and the rice is also very flavorful. Definitely the best west African I’ve had, and up there with best African period. Prices are quite reasonable. The Bissap is also very good, don’t skip out on it. Service and vibe are fine but nothing special, you come here for the food.

Excellent first time experience. I will most certainly return with family.

Not consistent also their fufu is sweet 🤮

The genuine kindness and gentility of the wait staff here is out of this world and refreshing. I come here when I need my faith in humanity repaired and supplemented with hearty global soul food, rich flavors, healthy vegetables and sea food.

I ate here over 15 years ago and still to this day do I CRAVE this food!! I live in a different state now but I would come back just to eat here! So delicious every bite is savory with flavor and the staff is so kind and lovely here!

This is one of my favorite restaurants, it could take some time to be prepared but the wait is always worth it, I’ve had a few different dishes on the menu and I loved them all, I’m excited to try all of the menu items.

I don't know if I went on the wrong day or what, but the food was nasty, with small portions for the price, on top of that I had more bones then meat. I used to love this place but never again will I spend my money there 😞😞

My first experience. The food was good, but lacked customer service skills. I specifically asked for the lunch specials (even pointed to it in the menu, btw we arrived at noon), but when I received the bill I was charged dinner prices. I mentioned to the lady at the checkout and she asked me why didn’t I send the food back once i seen the bigger portions and also asked me if i knew what a filet fish was since i was served a different style. I calmly told her i never been here before or experienced African food to know better. She basically blamed me for being served something i didn’t ask for, so that is the reason i decided to leave this review due to her shaming me for their mistake. rude and unprofessional!

The girl at the front is extremely rude. This is my second time experiencing her and I won’t be back

Ordered lamb chops with shrimp and crab meat. I recorded basic ox tails instead one shrimp and not even a day of crab meat. Needless to say I will not be ordering again. Food was seasoned but come on really…

The food is incredibly flavorful and fresh. Great service. Highly recommend the Saturday special dish, Tieb Djen, one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time! Red snapper served with veggies over rice and with a hearty, smoky sauce - 10/10 will eat again!

Absolutely delicious and amazing!

Good Senegalese food! Everything on the menu is to light up your taste buds 😋

Gonna say that the tilapia was the best fish I’ve ever eaten in the whole of my life. The owners are friendly and so kind. Left feeling full in a metaphorical and physical sense!!

The food was absolutely amazing. A ton of different textures, flavors, and spices were present in their dishes. Staff was very friendly and welcoming.

Ordered food online and when I get to the restaurant, it is close and no one is there! Update: I was able to get my food later the following week and a refund of the order I no longer needed. The manager was very nice and helpful!

The service here was amazing! Me and my girl went to try fufu for the first time and it was a different taste but those who love it definitely come here to try cause everyone was eating all of it!!! But when we weren’t happy with the food that went above and beyond to please us we will definitely be coming back!!!

Went to order food customer service was so horrible I decided not to order.

Wonderful food and great hospitality 😁 I enjoyed the delicious meal and kindness of the people working at the store. Dine in and have a lunch or dinner special 😋😋😋 SO GOOD!!!

Food is absolutely delicious. Comfortable booth seating would be a fantastic replacement for the standard cafeteria seats. Otherwise, it's 5 star.

Pretty nice african foods. I have missed tchiepe djeni

I cant help but recommend this place to everyone I know. I am in love with their Fatayas. Very friendly environment when me and my friends visited. We listened to the recommendations of our server and we were not disappointed! The food was so flavorful and fresh

I took a star away from a year ago only because the food is still really good but the portions have gotten smaller and the prices has went up. Also when I call to place an order, one of the guys who I place my order with is really rude. The woman who answers is really nice. The jollof rice and lamb and chicken is sooo good. Just the portions are small compared to when I use to come over a year ago. A plate for my fiancé and I come out to almost $60. That’s a lot when they lessen what they use to give.

Came with my sister for Iftar and they were very kind and made sure we were comfortable. They brought us dates to break our fast, gave us space to pray, and brought us hibiscus juice after finishing our food! May Allah bless them and their business endlessly. The food was also amazing we got the lamb curry, pataya, and tilapia fillet with djolof rice. 10/10

MashaAllah beautiful restaurant with amazing food and kind and welcoming staff. Treated us with care and are running an amazing business! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone I come across! Blessed to have eaten here!

My daughter and I ordered the Chicken curry stew . The chicken leg was raw

It was my fist time there and I absolutely loved it.

Food was delicious. Drinks were amazing. Service was outstanding. Plaintains were cooked to perfection. Lamb was scrumptious. Honeydew pineapple drink was so good we got a jug to go.

The food was amazing the only issue I had was an item being left out of my order and once I called and asked for a refund someone name issac asked if I could come back to get the item and once I told him I couldn’t he told me the next time I placed a order to let them know and give his name . Honest to say I haven’t ordered anything again from here . I will update if I did decide to order again

I went in with high hopes. I just wasn't impressed. I wanted to try the fufu and it left much to be desired.

The good: The baobab drink was nice the salmon fatayas were good and the kabob chicken was good as well the customer service was good even though I received my order without the drink that I had bought and had to ask them to get it out of the fridge. The bad: this food would be better served fresh most of it didn’t taste like it was cooked that day. Im pretty sure that the plantains were refried to fulfill my order, I could be wrong though. The curry chicken was not fresh as well it had the perfect flavor but the chicken was slightly pink on the inside which is not my preference. The jollof rice’s flavor was good but once again I could tell it wasn’t fresh. All three items were extremely and I mean extremely greasy the greasiest ones being the plantains and the jollof rice, I couldn’t finish any of the three items. I understand this is America and when something is in demand and scarce you can charge more money especially to the uncultured, but the quality should be maintained at all times if not increasing day by day and my food wasn’t high quality. I don’t know how authentic African food is supposed to taste but I do know good food and I wasn’t satisfied, I suspect that some restaurants are capitalizing off the name/brand of (African Food)because lots of people here wouldn’t know that the food they were served was unauthentic and lacked quality they’re just happy to be tasting foreign food that’s trending at the moment. I hope this restaurant is not doing that and if they are please change for your customers, show us real effort because we put effort into our hard earned money. Don’t capitalize off our ignorance educate us by giving us the best of the best knowledge is power.

The food was not all that good and it was not spice at all to me I'm from minnesota our fufu taste better I will never order from here again

The Food is Good there, this is my second time going. But the Customer Service was very poor, The lady that took my order had a very Nasty attitude. Didn't hand me my debit card back to me in my hand like I gave it to her and also the pen. That's very Rude. Also her tone with me was very Snappy. I don't Normally give reviews but I hope they see this and can address the issue with their Employees Thankyou